Strange Fate: Italy
by harma333
Summary: Caden Fairchild, a senior, popular, friendly. Her life at home however is a polar opposite. One day, two mysterious boys move to her town. As she delves in deeper to discover their secrets, she finds things beyond her imagination, but it may cost her..
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

_Rome, Italy. 1565_

The Mediterranean air was thick about the city. Tonight there was a full moon. Silver clung to the buildings; it lay about the ground and shone from the water. However, there was one building it could not penetrate: the Colosseum. There was too much death; too many lost souls within its walls that even the light of darkness couldn't fathom it.

Two shadows, different than the others, were hidden against a half-crumbled wall. They looked out at the round arena. The battle ground of many a gladiator, and the terror of the gallows where many a Christian met their death.

"Are you certain?" questioned one shadow. The other paused before answering, "Yes," in deep voice.

The first asked, "Do you say that out of courage, Vittorio? Such an answer could be fatal if said by a fool."

"We all do and say foolish things, but do they mark us as fools? No, I say it out of conviction, not courage. To say it out of courage would truly be the words of a fool."

The first shadow stepped towards him, and a sudden chill crept up Vittorio's spine. The creature's eyes, which had been blue, were now an eerie yellow. He stood next to Vittorio like a friend, his posture relaxed and his head tilted slightly, but there was something wrong with his mouth.

"You are very special, Vittorio,"

"Just answer this singular question, Aleth. Will it be quick?"

"For you, yes,"

Vittorio seemed to raise himself up, as though he could tower above the Colosseum himself.

"Good. I'm not very patient."

And then the Colosseum, and all of Italy disappeared in an inky blackness that smelled like blood.

***

_Minnesota, North America. 2005_

It was an old road. Hardly ever used, which made it a perfect place for gangs or drug traders to meet. And that particular night, a very angry and very drunk gang decided to drive the old road.

Caden looked up at the bright swirling lights of the ambulance and police cars. She held her three-year-old brother, Collin, tightly as their mother, Karen, was talking to one of the police officers. A few medics were hoisting a sheet-covered body on a stretcher into the back of the ambulance. She quickly looked away, holding her breath. How had it happened? They were just driving home from a trip, that was all. The gangs' cars were blocking the road. They wouldn't let them pass. Her dad tried to talk to them, to reason. Her dad had always been a very smart, reasonable person. The gang leader got mad. They all stunk of alcohol. Caden remembered her cellphone. Her parents had taken it from her when she was grounded, but she had snuck it out of their room. In the backseat, they couldn't see what she was doing. She dialed three numbers.

It wasn't soon enough.

The leader had a gun...

"Hmm?" she said, realizing that Collin had asked her something.  
"Why is Mommy crying?"

Caden gulped as tears welled in her eyes. She was just fifteen. She couldn't do this. Collin had been asleep the whole time, he didn't wake up until the gun fired...

"What?" she said, missing another question from her little brother.

"Where is Daddy?"

Present Day

The first words that appeared in Caden Fairchild's mind when she woke were, _"Things are different."_

She rose out of the bed, stretching and shaking out her long, dark hair from its braid. She walked carefully down the hall, the wood creaking softly under her feet. She saw that the sun had just begun to rise. She always woke with the dawn.

As she showered and dressed, words started to slowly emerge in her head. They were song lyrics. Only one sentence repeated itself over and over again:

"_It's like they all have just vanished, but I know they're around."_

She knew this song. It didn't surprise her that these lyrics were repeating in her head. And yet, this time was different than all the other times she had had songs stuck in her head. The words weren't repeating simply because it was a song she liked, or that they were from a song at all. There was no meter, no music, nor the sound of the singer's voice. They were simply words. Words being voiced from something else. She frowned at this and shook her head. Going to her full-length mirror, she smiled at her reflection. It was the first day of her senior year. And the best way for a girl to start it off was to have a nice new outfit. She had always loved black. Not because she was gothic or depressed, but because she saw it as a bold, signature color. Elegant, yet firm. To her, it was a durable color, and her small school where the majority of students wore designer clothes, they had learned to accept it. Today she had on a favorite clothing ensemble, though the clothes themselves were very new. Bootcut jeans with a slight wear in the knees, black Docs, and a dark purple V-neck tank-top with a black zip-up hoodie. All very flattering. Most days she tied her long black hair into a single braid, but today she felt almost spontaneous and let it fall down around her shoulders.

She had long gotten over the fact that she was the only Native American in her school. In fact, her school had very little diversity in ethnic groups. There was just a handful of others who weren't Caucasian, but it never bothered anyone. It was such a small school that one couldn't avoid knowing about someone else. Everyone knew each other so that hardly any racial arguments could arise. She didn't mind being part of that small handful, in fact, she enjoyed it. All her life, Caden loved anything different.

Down the hall she opened a door to a light blue painted room with a dinosaur trim. Going to the bed, she gently patted the dark head peeking out of the blankets.

"Collin, wake up," she cooed. The small bundle stirred, rolled over and a pair of little brown eyes opened up to her. A sleepy smile appeared.

"Hi, Caden," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. Scooping him out of bed she carried him to the bathroom.

Collin was her only sibling. He was six years old and was also going to his first day of preschool. Being also a mother to him, she had the natural feeling of not wanting him to grow up. As she helped him with his bath, she kept a careful ear on the other bedroom down the hall. Their mother's bedroom. As always, it reeked of last night's alcohol scurge. She heard it creek open, and dragging feet down the hall.

"Why're you up so early?" came a tired, and slightly slurred voice, as Caden was picking out Collin's outfit. Clutching the clothes tightly, she turned to face her mother. Standing in the doorway in a bathrobe and messy hair Karen looked tiredly between her two children. Large dark circles had formed under her eyes.

"It's school, Mom," Caden replied. "And it's also Collin's first day."

Karen shook her head and mumbled something about school being a means of torture on parents.

"So you woke me up-"

"I didn't wake you up, Mom," Caden deftly interjected. "I'll be taking Collin to school, and you should go back to bed."

Karen staggered a little going back into her bedroom. Caden hoped the woman would stay there until they left. Quickly helping Collin get dressed, she grabbed a couple Poptarts for both of them and headed out the door.

After dropping Collin off at the elementary school, she gunned the engine towards the high school.

'I'm a senior,' she thought proudly. This was going to be the year of all years. Pulling into the parking lot, she could see her friends waiting. She smiled at them all. Little Cheryl who probably wouldn't grow any taller than her 4 foot 11 ½ inch tall height. Joe, her best guy-friend in the world, who sometimes was more annoying that anything. And Davis, sweet, caring Davis who always loved a good romance novel. Sure, they were the geeks of the school, but they were like the Three Musketeers. All for one and one for all. Caden wouldn't have it any other way.

She hugged them all. Why was it that no matter how old your friends get, they'll always look the same?

She heard the gentle purring of an expensive car pulling up. Looking, she saw that everyone else had, too. It was sleek, black, and the windows were tinted so dark that she wondered if they were legal. She heard a couple guys mutter, "...a Vanquish...nearly impossible to get..."

It parked a few cars down from hers. Everyone who was still heading to the school, slowed in their walk to stare trying to get a glimpse through the glass. The two front doors opened and it was like watching a dramatic scene from a movie. Two young, and very good-looking guys emerged. The driver was a broad, muscled one who looked like he could take on the entire football team, not that he looked like he was in any rush to. He also had a mess of shaggy, blond hair that he kept running his hand through. The front looked nearly plastered as though it had permanently set that way due to the constant attention from his hand. The passenger was slighter in build, more slender. He had a straight shock of jet black hair and large brown eyes thick with lashes. He looked younger than the bigger one.

Who were they? They didn't look like brothers. Maybe they were step brothers? Or foster brothers? Or friends? Either way, they seemed too reserved to be normal teenagers going to high school. They didn't look at anyone, nor did they seem to even acknowledge that there were even people around them. They didn't seem full of themselves, just reserved. Like they were just going to high school because it was the law and nothing more.

The whole day people talked about the new boys. In a school as small as this one, news traveled faster than light. Where had the come from? Had anyone talked to them? What were their names? Though that sort of information would be found out very quickly.

In between classes


	2. Chapter 2

, as she walked through the halls, people called out to her, "Hey Caden!" or "Hi Caden, how's it going?" It was silly to ask the latter as there wasn't time to stop and chat. She smiled and waved and said a few "heys" back. Her life at school was so bright, if only home were the same…

She noticed the tall, broad blond boy up ahead of her, and how people gave him a wide berth, though he seemed not to care. Interesting. Even though people were curious and eager to know about him, they still regarded him warily, as though he gave off an aura to tell them, "Stay away."

Funny, she didn't sense it from him, or maybe there was something wrong with her brain. Walking up to her Composition class, she immediately spotted her friend, Cheryl, and waving her over she gave her a huge hug.

"Hey you!" Caden squealed.

"I missed this!" Cheryl replied with a bright smile. Casey, one of their guy-friends muttered, "Scary lesbians…"

"You only wish, Casey!" Caden teased. He smirked and went to his seat. The two girls continued to laugh when Cheryl's suddenly died away as her gaze was caught on something behind Caden. She noticed the room's noise level drop dramatically. Turning, she saw the new boy walk in. It was the smaller dark one. Ignoring the scene he had created, he leaned nonchalant against the wall. By now, the teacher had appeared at the front of the room and was assigning seats alphabetically.

"…Caden Fairchild…" he said, pointing to a seat at one of the two-person tables. She sat and then the teacher pointed to the seat beside her, "…Levi Hepzah…" he mumbled through the last name, unsure of the pronunciation. Levi didn't seem to care and he fluidly took his seat. As the teacher continued down the tables, Caden caught Cheryl's attention a couple seats across from her. Thankfully, Levi wasn't looking, and Cheryl gave her bug eyes and nodded toward the new boy. Caden just shook her head as though to say, _"It's no big deal,"_

As the teacher continued to be occupied with students and handing out the syllabus and rules, she decided to take the opportunity.

"So, your name is Levi?" she said it more like a statement. He turned his head a fraction in her direction and nodded once.

"Where'd you move from?" she asked, not one to give up easily by his silence.

"Egypt," he replied tonelessly.

"That's a big jump. Are you a foreign exchange student?"

He simply shook his head. She decided not to waste time or words.

"Well, I'm Caden Fairchild. I've never moved, I'm Native American, a full-time student, and you and your friend are the most exciting thing to happen in this school since the time when the pool got filled with Jello."

A long pause passed and she wondered briefly he thought her retarted.

But then, a smile cracked across his face, and this time, looked at her. His eyes were so big and warm. Now, he looked completely different then before. She smiled back, a relieved smile. The rest of the hour they talked. He and his friend, Roddy Campbell, weren't foreign exchange students. Roddy was Scottish and they had been childhood friends and decided to move to America. They now lived outside of the town in a secluded region. Caden chewed on her lip, rolling around a thought in her head.

"So…are you two…gay?" she winced slightly. Surprisingly, he threw his head back and laughed, which immediately drew stares, but he didn't care.

"No, we are not!" his laughter cooled down and he play punched her shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm not offended. We lean toward women." And he gave her a wink. She shook her head and shoved him a little.

***

As the days turned to weeks, Caden felt herself become more lively. So far, everything was perfect. Even though she had yet to have a proper conversation with Roddy, she found that her and Levi had grown very close, much like siblings.

One day, she even skipped to her dance practice and nearly collided with a large body.

"Oh! I'm so sorry! Lack of breaks, you know,"

It was Roddy. He didn't smile or say anything, but deftly moved out of her way and continued on. She frowned. Him and Levi were friends?


End file.
